Texas Sheet Cake

I have been making this chocolate sheet cake recipe for about a year now and I have never been disappointed. I do wonder, though, how it managed to make its way into Cooking Light with the amount of butter and sugar that is in this recipe. No matter though, I do not discriminate! This is a very straightforward recipe to put together and to be quite honest – the icing makes this cake completely worth it. It is so intensely chocolatey and sugary that I often eat too much before putting it on the cake and need to wait before I have my first bite of cake

I would also like to plug a kitchen product here – the Pampered Chef large rectangular bar pan (10×15). This piece of stoneware has served me well since I bought it – I have made classic Italian bread on it, as well as roasted potatoes that were perfectly crisp. I admit, however, that I was a little nervous about how it would fare with a baked good. I was more than pleasantly surprised! I lightly buttered the pan and had no sticking issue, and I must say that the cake turned out much more moist in the stoneware than it had in the non-stick pan I had been using. This is definitely a piece I would recommend adding to your collection!

Texas Sheet Cake

(Source: Cooking Light)
CAKE:
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (I used 1%)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

ICING:
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup fat-free milk (again, I used 1%)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans (I omitted these)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F.

To prepare the cake, coat a 15 x 10 jelly-roll pan with cooking spray, and dust with 2 teaspoons flour. Set prepared pan aside.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour and next 3 ingredients (2 cups flour through salt) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine water, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; pour into flour mixture. Beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add buttermilk , 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake at 375 F for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on wire rack.

To prepare the icing, combine 6 tablespoons butter, milk, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and gradually stir in powdered sugar, pecans, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Spread over hot cake. Cool completely on wire rack.

Note: You can also make this recipe in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake at 375 F for 22 minutes.

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